Turkish film depicts democracy under fire

VENICE (Reuters) - "Abluka", a dark and sinister film depicting Istanbul in the throes of a terrorist bombing campaign, is intended as a warning about the fragility of democracy, its Turkish director said on Tuesday.

"I think mainly it's about how the political atmosphere can drive people paranoid and crazy and create the destruction of the society," Emin Alper told Reuters in an interview at the Venice Film Festival

"The political polarization, the political tensions and the idea of a polarized society between enemy and friends can destroy our identities, our confidence," he added.

Though set in Istanbul, he said, the human conflict portrayed was characteristic of many places in the 20th century.

The film, which means "Frenzy" in English, shows this societal disintegration through the eyes of two brothers, Kadir, played by Mehmet Ozgur, who has been released from prison on parole after years inside, and his younger brother Ahmet, played by Berkay Ates, whose wife has just left him.

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They have a third, middle brother whom neither has seen in years, and who may or may not be the head of the network that is terrorizing neighborhoods with bombings in the middle of the night, which in turn provoke a heavy police crackdown.
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